“You’ve got a beautiful ass, Lena. This gives me ideas for later, maybe tie you down and spank that naughty behind for making me hard as a rock in front of this dickhead cop.” Her eyes went dark and wild with heat as his fingers kneaded her seam from behind, grinding her pelvis against his erection. He was so lost in her scent, feathering kisses across her brow that he nearly missed the men exiting the prisoner area. Cursing, he spun her around holding her in front of his rather obvious condition and instantly wished he hadn’t.
The man standing in front of them was an older mirror image of Celena.
****
“Faunus, the air here feels wrong,” Flora was back to paranoid whispering and he couldn’t blame her. There was something overpowering about the energies in the forest. For a moment Faunus had the feeling that they were miles away and centuries in the past when the world was young and the magic of the gods filled the air, but it wasn’t probable, it would take power, the power of an elder god to open these corridors, but why?
“I know, my Flower, the air here is young.” There was a scent in the air that he hadn’t tasted in many years. Fruit in grocery stores lacked the fragrant allure of natural ripeness. He stood slack jawed looking at the golden yellow globes hanging on bowed branches. So many centuries had passed since the tree had passed from the earth that he stood bemused, stroking the smooth silver bark and brushing the succulent flesh.
“Do you know what this is?” He turned excited, remembering that Flora had never seen this particular tree, that it would be a rare treat for any plant lover and drew up short gaping. “How did you…get that off the tree to eat it? Do you know what you just did?” She looked so adorable with her cheeks stuffed full like a chipmunk that he couldn’t get angry. After all, the tree didn’t give up its apples unless it wanted the person to eat them. “I guess that solves the problem of my outliving you,” he huffed good-naturedly. “How do you like the fruit of the Tree of Life, my bride?”
She gulped, nearly choked and swallowed. “The what?” Her legs went weak and would have dumped her on her ass in the field if Faunus hadn’t caught her. “You mean this is real?” He grinned and nodded and her head spun. “Oh my God, does that mean I can’t go home?” Choked laughter and a negative shake of his head made her feel a little better. “Wrong fairy tale, huh?”
“You could say if you were in Hades eating a pomegranate, it would definitely be a different story.” Wiping his eyes he wondered again who could have opened the doorway and why? Being bent over he saw the rest of the meadow and a very fat tall stump, a stump that gave off an ugly dark aura where a wooden blade pierced the bark.
****
“I always talked about one day meeting my dad, but I had no idea who he was. I know Jonathan Foster, you aren’t him.” Celena wasted no time with pleasantries after being revved up, redirected and aimed at a target. The blond male managed to look highly amused without losing his austere expression. “That is the attorney, and you are who?”
“Today, I am Jonathan Foster visiting my poor mentally damaged niece with her attorney.” Stepping away from the over-interested desk officer, he lifted an arm and directed them from the waiting area into the bright afternoon sun. Turning, the man stared very hard at Celena. Something about the look made Red reach for his wolf side; he felt the animal form crackling for freedom around his own and a growl rumbled deep in his chest.
“Your gift, my Cancerian daughter, is true sight. You see to the heart of the matter, the connections. Tell me who I am,” he stepped close enough to whisper, “better yet, my daughter, tell me who you really are.”
Celena centered, relaxed and allowed the buzzing at the edge of her mind to pour over her consciousness and the rest of the world grayed and receded as she looked into his eyes. He was her father but in the way that the stars fathered the earth, seeding the ground and seas with the potential to become. Beaming at the knowledge that Ashley in her fervent horoscope readings was closer to the truth in her odd way than many who sought the heavens hidden secrets. She could have found her secrets in Hyperion’s eyes but didn’t need to, she had Madden and that was enough.
“Very good.” He nodded, looking up almost startled at Madden. “You, Crab, are the Protector but she doesn’t need your strength. Your lord has a brother and this brother a bride. They are in danger. A word of advice, the Sabine Group is not your friend. Good day now.”
“What the hell was that about?” The growl was back in full force and Celena flinched, the encounter left her feeling drained and her stomach ached. Reaching in her purse she took a small dose of liquid to settle the pain.
“You aren’t limited by the twenty-four hour rule, did you know that?” She rubbed her belly as they walked toward the car hoping the pain would subside. It irritated her to have this weakness, it drove her crazy. “As protector of the entire clan you are outside the rules, it’s why you can hold part of the wolf form after changing back.” She met his eyes over the hood of the car before opening the door and sliding onto her seat.
“Celena.” The rumble of his voice danced over her skin and made her shiver, but not in the way she expected. Leaning over as he sat tense behind the wheel, she kissed the corner of his mouth.
“Talk to me like that in bed tonight and I will be your slave.” The muscle in his jaw jumped so she slumped back in her seat. “I’m not sure, but I got the impression that the Faust women opened something they really shouldn’t have in order to kill off Lupercus, finding his brother was just a super bonus.” Rubbing her brow, another niggling thought struck home.
“Those hides from the harts, Laura wore them because they were impervious to damage, like armor. Faunus doesn’t have that protection, but they won’t know that. Oh, Madden, I asked him to go see that field where Tomas was wounded. They’re going to butcher him and Flora to hurt your Wolf Lord.”
Sliding through the woods was never a hardship. Red was more at ease on four feet than two. He picked up the scents of three separate men plus Faunus and Flora. They fanned out around the woods, hunting the pair as they walked through the woods. A flash of movement sent him to his belly, head lowered parallel to the ground, watching as the shadowy form faded behind a filmy hunting blind. It was enough to confuse a human eye and sometimes a deer, but it wasn’t equal to the eyes of a predator. Low crawling, he moved through the trees and nosed up a corner of the tarp sliding under. The man didn’t look back; he was wholly focused on the pair walking arm and arm along the wooded path. Red shifted silently, readying for the final rush, his forepaws flexing in the soil. As if sensing something, the man spun on the balls of his feet and met the onslaught of teeth as they snapped around his throat.
Celena did not take orders well; she didn’t even take suggestions without bristling, so being told to sit in the car and wait like a recalcitrant toddler went over like a lead balloon. Granted, skulking about the woods was not her strongest suit, but she couldn’t just sit in the car doing nothing. Walking down the path, she heard a small scuffling to her left.
If that is Madden, I hope he is too busy to notice me, she prayed. Just ahead she spied Flora and Faunus admiring a funny looking tree. The base was wide and gnarled with a silvery color but had thin spindly branches with fat yellow fruit. Pretty damned ugly, she thought staring at the wizened twisted thing. For a moment she thought she saw something moving on the far side of the clearing, but when it didn’t move again she paced forward. So far, so good, she breathed.
Hurrying forward she got within calling range when they turned and moved into the clearing. Oh, pooh! She danced from one foot to the other, if she walked into that clearing and Madden saw her, he’d be too pissed to forgive her. Maybe if she tossed a rock at them, one of them would notice and turn around. Her eyes were scanning the ground when a movement caught her eye from the far thicket again. There was a flash of light and Celena focused. Arrow! Without thinking she broke out of the trees and ran for all she was worth at the exposed pair.
Belly to the ground
, a handful of feet away from the second target, Red was digging in for the kill when he saw the man break cover cursing. Reflexively, he turned and saw Celena racing towards Flora and Faunus. Wolves can’t swear, but they can growl and stupidly he gave himself away, the man spun, tripped and the arrow released just over Red’s back. Surging forward, he landed on the man’s chest getting tangled in the bow for his efforts. Quickly he tore the man’s throat out and looked up. Celena had plowed into the couple, knocking them over like bowling pins looking at a spot another thirty yards around the perimeter of the field in a dense thicket.
As fast as he dared, he slid through the woods, ears swiveling, nose lifted. This hunter was smarter, using something to mask his scent as he entered the thicket. Sharp balls of razor wire littered the ground, making him take his eyes from looking for the man’s hidden position. Making going even more confusing, a covey of grouse littered the thicket, the beating of their wings obscuring any sound of movement within.
Watching the trio try to identify where the arrows came from as they all tried to hide behind a weird looking stump only added impatience to his task. Looking up, he spied the metal hooks the hunter had used to navigate the thicket. He wanted to wring Celena’s pretty little neck but if she was right, he should be able to shift back and follow the last hunter to his perch.
As Celena knocked into Faunus, he grabbed Flora and shielded her as they hit the ground rolling. A solid thunk sounded as something brushed past his ear and made him look at the stump they’d come to examine. “An arrow?” On autopilot he banded an arm around Flora’s chest and moved on his elbows and knees as fast as he could to the far side of the stump, Celena close behind him.
“What the hell is going on?” he demanded, looking at the wide patch of thicket that the arrow had to come from.
“The Sabine Group still trying to get to your brother,” she panted, “this time through you.”
“Son of a bitch,” Flora spit grass, “Not you.” She directed a semi-squashed look at a wounded looking Faunus. “I was blessing the fool shooting at us. Where’s Red?”
Celena peeked up from around the stump worried, where was he? He’d promised it wouldn’t take long at all to deal with the three hunters he’d sensed in the woods. “I don’t know,” she admitted feeling fear twist painfully through her stomach.
Red lost valuable minutes, sitting bare-assed on the ground marveling at his fingers and toes like an idiot. Outside of the once, he’d never even thought to challenge the law restricting the shifting power of his kind, the reality of his new freedom was heady. It would be nice to one day figure a way to carry clothes if he was going to be doing this often, he marveled. Shaking his head in disgust, Red grabbed the small metal cleats and climbed the tree. Ten feet above the ground a nylon cord stretched to another tree and he grabbed the rope moving hand over hand as his eyes scanned the forest floor beneath him as well as the slim branches surrounding him. The going was slow as he had to keep his legs tucked up close against his body to keep from jostling the brush. A small ledge jutted out of the tree where the rope tethered. Fifteen feet beyond, the hunter knelt. As a man, he could jump the distance, but landing he’d need the power of the wolf. Sweat rolled down his back. He’d perfected the ability to shift shape almost as fast as Lupercus, but would it be enough?
Fate wasn’t going to give him a second shot; his heart sank as Celena’s blonde head popped up from behind the stump looking for the danger that was waiting to strike. He took a deep breath, focused on his adversary and leapt.
“Celena, get down!” Faunus hissed. He didn’t envy Red the ulcers the headstrong woman was going to give him, not one bit.
“Where’s Madden?” She kept poking her head up like a gopher looking for the one person least likely to ever need rescuing.
“I’ve no idea but I’m not going to make myself a target to find out.” Watching the worried young woman he felt a pang of guilt. “I’m a fertility god; we are not supposed to be warriors.”
Celena snorted and ducked back behind the stump. “Lupercus isn’t a sissy, and the last time I checked Mars gave up dancing through the fields to swing a sword.”
Faunus boggled at that tidbit of information as Celena poked her too bright head above the stump again. It was too regular, the timing of her looks, grunting he reached up and yanked her over backwards as something smacked the top of the stump before skidding into the grass just past their huddled bodies. Shaking, all three looked at the quivering fletching sticking up out of hillock of grass.
The arrow released a split second before he landed on the man in a fury of fangs and ripping paws. It was over almost before it started. Gagging, Red shifted back, spitting blood and gore out as he pushed through the thin cover of brush, heading for the field. Nothing stirred in the bright sunshine. What if he’d been too late? That split-second of indecision may have cost more than could be born. Without thinking, he ran across the field towards the stump. The sight of Celena sprawled in the grass nearly stopped his heart until he saw the rise and fall of her chest. His stomach rebelled and he ended up on his hands and knees throwing up a bloody mess.
“Madden? Oh my God! What happened? Are you hurt?” Cool hands patted his face and neck, sliding over his shoulders and back. He slumped back on his haunches.
“Woman, if you aren’t going to be the death of me I don’t know what will.” He dragged Celena into his lap crushing her against his chest. “I thought you were dead.”
Her muffled voice pertly informed him, “Faunus pulled me down.”
Hanging his head in relief and shame, he breathed until his heart stopped trying to break free of his ribs. “I owe you big,” Red admitted to the reclining stag-god.
“Damn skippy junior, but I think you did more than enough today. Can we please go home?” He collapsed back into the thick grass as Flora pulled the wooden blade from the stump causing the time pocket to disintegrate with a gut wrenching, eye-popping jolt.
“Perfect,” Red muttered darkly, looking around the unfamiliar surroundings. “Now, where the hell, are my pants?”
Chapter Fifteen
Lovers Knots
“I’m sorry to have asked this of you,” Celena apologized for the hundredth time that morning. Lupercus didn’t mind accompanying the young woman to the house where she grew up, he just didn’t understand why she felt the need for his company over her mate. As if sensing the question she turned and smiled with tired eyes. “Madden really doesn’t like my mom, he’s prejudiced.” The knuckles of her hands were white on the steering wheel. “Can’t say I blame him either,” she muttered.
“In all truth, Dr. Black, this trip is more than a curiosity it is a salvation. After three days of carefully moving Ashley’s small birds and their new chick, I am glad to be moving again.” Mentally he begged forgiveness for the lie--there was nowhere he’d rather be than at his Lupa’s side watching the small baby bird sit open-mouthed in his small nest.
“But, I am at a loss, why are we visiting your mother?”
Feeling the weight of those warm green eyes, Celena judiciously selected her words. “I finally met my father,” she began, testing the waters. When Lupercus seemed inclined to wait on her words instead of inquiring, she relaxed. “Mom always gave me the impression that my dad was so bad as to be unmentionable, that I was the only good thing that ever came of her knowing him.”
All those years, Celena bit her lip, all the times she had worked longer, tried harder, and pushed her own needs aside trying to wash away the stain her father left on her soul and… she shook her head refusing to finish the thought. No good use in going down the path of regret. The best thing about childhood was it was past and done with, far better to look to the future.
“That doesn’t matter,” Celena smiled ruefully at the Wolf Lord, “what does matter is that she presents a clear and distinct danger to your clan.”
Curious, Lupercus reached out and tried to skim the surface of the young woman’s thoughts. Touching her min
d was alien, like brushing fingers through a pool of winter water during summer. He couldn’t read her thoughts. She was completely closed to him but her emotions poured off of her in waves, anger and hurt laced with sadness.
“How is your mother a danger? Yes, I have heard that she harbors an ill will against Red that verges on the insane, but how is that a threat to my family?”
“When my mom found out she was pregnant, she told me a ‘friend’ helped her escape my dad, find a job and a home. After I got to California to start college she called me on the phone, telling me that for my own good she had signed papers allowing her ‘friend’ to adopt me.” The memory of her mother’s screaming through the phone lines was as clear as the day she called. Over and over, Sandy had called her daughter a failure to her blood, a barnyard slut, and worse.
“This ‘friend’ wasn’t a person but an organization and they were supposed to save me. I never told anyone about that, it was so painful. The scholarship I thought I had won didn’t exist. Basically the Sabine Group owned me.” She felt the sudden tension radiating from the man next to her.
“Do they own you still?”
Celena felt the chill of her gift rise to caress her skin. “Man may believe he can harness the Sun, but only in his dreams has he leashed the Moon.” Slowing the car to just under the speed limit, she explained what had been learned in is absence.
****
An hour later, Lupercus felt the weight of the world, at least the world of the man-wolfs, settle securely back onto his shoulders. A part of him welcomed the weight, but another mourned. He had enjoyed taking a few weeks to do nothing more than be a man with a new bride, it would have suited him to spend a few dozen years in such bliss. But the reality of Sandy Black intruded.
There had been confrontation enough, Celena and Lupercus agreed on that much as they stood in the grassy meadow adjacent to her childhood home. Standing in the farmer’s field next to the trim, weather-beaten home, Lupercus easily combed through the thoughts and memories of the woman inside. She was on the phone spewing vitriol and hate at a bored voice belonging to an anonymous underling of the Sabine Group. Normally he would send in Red to deal with the woman, he was almost more wolf than man, he understood the need to eliminate threats and such tasks never took a toll on him. But this, Lupercus rubbed his neck contemplating. This particular task would drive a wedge between a good wolf and his mate.
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